PresidentBarack Obama and former Massachusetts governorMitt Romney will face off in their first debate this Wednesday, October 3, at 9 PM. Whether you
intend to chug every time anyone refers to “47 percent,” “Obamacare,” or “my opponent,”
or whether you just need a beer or two to make all that rhetoric easier to swallow,
there are bars aplenty offering specials during the debate.

Wednesday is presidential bingo night at Ventnor Sports Cafe, where everyone gets “Obama” and “Mitt!”
bingo cards and hopefully some drinks to go along with them. The debate will be screened
on high-def flat-screens, and everyone lucky enough to score bingo during the evening
will win drink specials and other prizes to go along with the usual Wednesday night
specials (cut-price tacos and $4 Tecate tallboys).

Pony glasses of all 31 draft beers will be $3 at Bullfeathers during the debates, which all happen during the bar’s
Pony Express happy hour. The sound will be up throughout the restaurant, as befits
an institution so beloved among Hill staffers.

Busboys & Poets will have the sound on for the debate at all four
locations.

inside the J.W. Marriott, try the “left wings,” chicken wings
with pineapple glaze;
the “right wings” are slathered in Boston honey. Cocktails come
in the form of a Mint
Romney and a Barrockin’ Mai Tai, and everything on the menu
will be $11.06 in honor
of election day. See Best Bites Blog’s roundup for more
election-themed specials.

At 201 Bar, the debate-watching party starts at 5 PM with
$3 Bud Lights and $4 house wines. Flatbread pizzas go for six bucks as soon as the
show starts, and happy hour drinks specials run all evening.

TheFederalist, the Madison Hotel’s bar, plans to serve some themed
drinks to go along with the debates, which will be played throughout the establishment.

TheNorthern Virginia Urban League Young Professionals Network will be at Laporta’s Restaurant in Alexandria and will be live-tweeting the event using
the hashtag #OccupytheVote.

There’s a $10 cover for each debate event put on by the Women’s National Democratic Club at their New Hampshire Avenue headquarters. The cash bar will open at 8, and light
hors d’oeuvres will be offered.